London Violin Auction sales results - The Big Violin Makers.

With a combined sales total of over 3 million pounds (GBP), it would seem that London was the place to sell a violin this November.
Bonhams and Sothebys held their central London autumn musical instrument sales on the 6th and 7th.

Whilst it seems that Sothebys is often the place to find a 'star lot' when it comes to musical gems, Bonhams seemed to generate more revenue from its sales this time. But there were some great violins on offer at both houses and perhaps the rather unusual circumstance of there being two violins by the great cremonese violin maker, Nicolo Amati* - one in each auction house.

Sothebys' c.1675 example with a 354mm back and handsomely-carved scroll, also came with a handsome estimate of 50-80,000 GBP. Bonahms' specimen dated from 1651 with slightly smaller proportions (350mm back length) and had a slightly smaller estimate of 30-40,000 GBP. Both of the instruments had one piece backs, Bonhams' example having really attractive slab cut wood. According to Phillip Scott, Bonhams' Musical Instrument Department expert, their 1651 instrument may never have been offered at auction before, having been in the same European family since 1871**. The 350 year old instrument, which perhaps unsurprisingly looked well-played, seemed to have some minor scroll and table restorations and was sold with a recent colour-illustrated certificate of authenticity from the London dealer and repairer, Florian Leonhard. Sothebys' example looked to be in fine condition and ended up reaching over three times the lower end of its estimate at 153,000 GBP, the highest priced lot in Sothebys' sale. Bonhams' Amati sold for almost three times less than the example across the road at Sothebys, attaining just 55,200 GBP.

Another maker who was represented by an instrument in each house was Ferdinand Gagliano. The Gagliano family were making instruments in Naples from about the beginning of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th. Ferdinando worked up until about the end of the 18th century. The violin at Bonhams dated from 1772 with a certificate from J & A Beare (the London experts and violin dealers) and had been the property of a professional musician since the 1960s. The tiny viola at Sothebys by the same maker, measured just 369mm in back length (14 1/2 inches) and it also had a certificate from the Beare establishment. William Henley remarks, in his Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers, that these small violas were sometimes cut down and converted into large violins, but it was nice to see that this example was still very much a viola. The violin at Bonhams, with an estimate of 65,000-75,000 GBP, failed to sell, whilst Sothebys' viola fetched 30,000 GBP.

The highest priced violin sold over the two days was at Bonhams - an instrument by Josef Filius Andreae Guarneri, Cremona. This impressive c.1710 instrument came with a Tree Ring Analysis Report (by John C.Topham) linking the wood on this instrument to several other Cremonese and Venetian instruments including some made by Guarneri del Gesu, Antonio Stradivari, J.B. Guadagnini, D. Montagnana and Santo Serafin. This scientific analysis no doubt helped the instrument reach its 229,600 GBP sale price.

There were several mid-priced violins sold at Sothebys, including a violin by Jean Baptiste-Vuillaume of 1843 for 45,600 GBP, a Jacob Stainer at 48,000 GBP, two violins by Giuseppe Pedrazzini of 1920 and 1921 (which fetched 24,000 GBP and 36,000 GBP respectively) and an Antonio Zanotti violin, c.1725, which reached a surprising 42,000 GBP - despite its pre-auction estimate of 7-10,000 GBP. Not bad for a maker whose work, according to William Henley, was worth £400 in 1960. But it seems that the odd surprise happened at Bonhams too, when a violin simply catalogued as 'A Violin of the Italian School' reached 42,000 GBP. Perhaps its J.B. Guadagnini label was original...?

It is nice to see that are still some great Cremonese instruments new to the auction scene that emerge from time to time. Perhaps there are still some undiscovered masterpieces waiting to be found in the distant corners of the world by modern-day Tarisios.....


* Further information on the Amati family and violin making style, attributes, etc, can be found in George Hart's The Violin: Its Famous Makers and their Imitators

** Info. from Phillip Scott's article on Bonhams' Musical Instrument Department podcast.

All auction prices quoted include tax and buyer's premium.

Fiona Vilnite, musicforstrings.com

The Invisible Violinist.

Martin Pierre Joseph Marsick may not be on the tip of your tongue when you try to name an important violinist of past times, but this little-remembered Belgian violinist and composer forms an important link the history of violin playing.
A contemporary of the composers Jules Massanet and Camille Saint-Saens, Marsick was to teach a new generation of violinists including Jacques Thibaud, George Enescu (a teacher of Yehudi Menuhin) and Carl Flesch – whose influence on the modern school of violin playing is immense. Marsick himself was taught by the famous collaborator of Brahms – Joseph Joachim. So why has history forgotten Marsick? Was it because of the other great Belgian violinist, Eugène Ysaÿe?
With just a decade between them. Ysaÿe and Marsick were almost exact contemporaries. Both studied at the Liège Conservatory and they both began their studies with Rodolphe Massart, a disciple of Kreutzer. Each became a violinist-composer, important exponents of the 'Franco-Belgian' School of violin playing and led successful string quartets (The Quatour Marsick and the Ysaye Quartet).

Marsick's Legacy as a Teacher.

Marsick's success as a teacher is illustrated by some of the fantastic violinists he coached as a teacher at the Paris Conservatoire. One of them, Jacques Thibaut, described his systematic teaching method, using the studies of Gavinies, Rode, Fiorillo, Dont – a new study was to be prepared for every lesson, and with three lessons a week, it would seem that the teacher was keen to challenge the pupil's stamina and development. Thibaud explains:

“With him [Marsick] I believe that three essentials - absolute purity of pitch, equality of tone and sonority of tone, in connection with the bow - are the base on which everything else rests.”
(From: Violin Mastery – Talks with Master Violinists and Teachers by Frederick H Martens, New York, 1919.)

Playing Style.

Marsick's own playing was praised particularly by Vieuxtemps who witnessed Marsick's debut performance at the Concerts Populaires in Paris of Vieuxtemps' own 4th Violin Concerto. European tours were to follow and in 1885 he toured Russia. Then, in 1895-6, he toured the United States. His delivery was apparently large in style, with a sophisticated bowing technique.

Original arrangements and compositions.

According to E. Van der Straeten in 'The History of the Violin', Marsick composed 'three violin concertos and a number of effective pieces.' However, the violin concertos are not listed in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians online, and they have certainly not become part of a violinists' mainstream repertoire. He is perhaps most well known today for his transcription of Massenet's Meditation from Thais for violin and piano, and it seems that he was probably the most qualified man to do this - as a contemporary of Massenet and ex-opera orchestra player.

His Violin

Marsick apparently owned several fine violins and his 1705 Antonio Stradivarius was played later by David Oistrakh.

Marsick seems to be one of violin history's forgotten characters, whose almost invisible legacy pervades our modern times.

Dates:
Martin Pierre (Joseph) Marsick 1847-1924
Eugène (Auguste) Ysaÿe 1858-1931
Jules (Emile Frédéric) Massenet 1842-1912
[Charles] Camille Saint-Saens 1835-1921
Henry Vieuxtemps 1820-1881
Jaques Thibaud 1880-1953
Georges Enescu 1881-1955
Carl Flesch 1873-1944
Yehudi Menuhin 1916-1999

Some interesting remarks from around the web:

Past owners of Marsick's 1705 Stradivarius include: Baumgartner, Delgay, E. Français, Perilhou, Vatelot, Vormbaum and Wilmotte. (From: jose-sanchez-penzo.net/strad.html)

From the German Wikipedia site: 'On the grounds of a personal scandal, he went to the USA in 1900 and ended his teaching at the Paris Conservatoire.' (“Auf Grund eines privaten Skandals ging er 1900 in die USA und beendete seine Lehrtätigkeit am Conservatoire.” )

Fiona Vilnite musicforstrings.com